


Promises

by WitchesRayvyn



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Book/Movie Fusion, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 15:57:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/928387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchesRayvyn/pseuds/WitchesRayvyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Currently under revision)<br/>Jack is a successful author of children's fantasy books who is rushing home from a book signing the night before Easter. While completely lost in thought, something jumps out in front of his car and clips it. When he gets out to check on what he thinks is a deer, he finds out that not only was what he hit NOT in fact a deer, but that the books he's been writing might not be as 'fantastic' and he thought. (Currently under revision)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Why you should always pay attention while driving, especially at night

Pale hands gripped the steering wheel, as two thumbs drummed impatiently to the beat of the music blasting from the car’s speakers. Blue eyes flicked down to the clock in the dash and a curse slipped past slim lips. “Shit.....”  A sneakered foot pressed down on the gas pedal and the car lurched forward, going just a bit faster. “At this rate I’m not going to make it back till 2 in the morning. How am I going to be coherent enough to help look for eggs with only a couple hours of sleep?” A pale hand slapped the wheel in anger, and the young man driving sighed softly.

25 year-old Jack Overland-Frost hated not keeping promises, especially promises he had made his sister and his two wards. It always made him feel like a liar, like his father; and that was something he never wanted to imitate. It didn’t matter that the reason he was running late was what put money in the bank. He had promised Emma, Jamie, and Sophie that they would always spend family holidays together, and he was going to try his hardest to be home in time to grab some sleep before he would have to wake up and help the kids find their eggs. Jack chuckled softly. Well, he wouldn’t really consider Emma or Jamie kids anymore, at least not to their faces. They were both 14 and still believed in the Easter Bunny. Which, Jack thought, was mostly his fault. He was nothing but a big kid trapped in a man’s body and he had always had an overactive imagination; always coming up with fantastical stories and then reading them to the younger neighborhood kids. That’s how Emma had met Jamie and Sophie, and through them, how Jack’s mother had met Ms. Bennett, another single parent trying to make ends meet. The two women had become fast friends and it wasn’t long before they all saw each other as one big family.

As Jack had grown so had his imagination, he was forever writing down ideas, outlines, and notes. Eventually, all of his hard work had paid off: at the tender age of 20, he published his first book. It was a children’s story about a man who lived in the moon (which wasn’t really a moon at all, but a large ship) and from that ship the man listened and granted the wishes of children down on earth. It had been more of a picture book then a chapter book really, but kids and their parents had gone nuts over it. Needless to say it had been a huge success, and with the success had came enough money that he was able to pay for his first two years of college on his own; and there was still enough money left over to help his mother with her rent and other expenses. Since his first book had been such a hit, his publisher begged him to write another book about ‘The Guardians of Childhood.’ In response Jack had laughed and patted the man on the shoulder, telling him he had already started on the next book: a story about a star who crash lands on earth and becomes the Sandman, spreading good dreams to children everywhere.

‘The Sandman: The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie’ was published not long after he turned 22, and his third book had been published two years later, but the excitement over having published his third book was short lived. While traveling to visit Jack at school to help celebrate the book’s release, his mother, Ms. Bennett, Emma, Jamie, and Sophie were in a car accident. Both women had died at the scene, and by the time Jack had been notified, the three children had been rushed to the hospital with severe, but non-life threatening injuries. Once he had made sure his sister and the two Bennett children were going to be alright; he returned to school and requested an emergency level of absence, which he was granted. It was during one of his hospital visits that Jack found out he was not only the legal guardian of his sister, but of Jamie and Sophie as well. It seemed that at some point over the years Ms. Bennett had changed her will and had listed Jack’s mother as Jamie and Sophie’s guardian, should anything happen to her. His name had been listed as second for guardianship, should his mother be unable to take the two children. He knew it was going to be tough, that the courts might fight him for custody of the three children, he was after all a 24 year-old single male.  What would a single 24 year-old male know about raising three kids, the youngest of which was only six. He wasn’t about to let the courts take them, however. He made his first promise to the trio that day: that they were family, and that he would fight to keep them together, no matter what.

The next couple of months were hard on all of them. Not only did Jack have to arrange funerals for his mother and Ms. Bennett, he also had to deal with packing up and selling the Bennett’s house, making sure everything was put into storage. He knew Jamie at least would want to go through everything and keep a few things of his parent’s before the rest of their belongings were sold. Sophie was still too young to really care about things that had belonged to her parents, though Jack knew she might want something someday, so he set aside a few things he thought she might like. On top of that, Jack had stacks of legal paperwork to go over and sign, lawyers to see and a court hearing to prepare for. However, no matter how busy he was, or how tired he might be, he made time to visit the trio at least once a day while they were in the hospital.

Once his sister and the two Bennett children had been released from the hospital, Jack moved them all into his mother’s house, giving Jamie his old room, and having Emma and Sophie bunk together. This worked out for the best since Sophie was having a difficult time adjusting to her mother’s absence, and Emma was the best at calming her down. They had a couple of weeks to settle in before the court hearing. Jack piled the three children into his mother’s car, hating to do so because all three kids were extremely nervous about being in a car again; but the court had insisted that the kids be present at the hearing. The lawyer representing the state made exactly the argument that Jack thought he would: Jack was a 24 year-old single man, what did he really know about raising children? How was he going to take care of them and provide for them financially?

Jack’s reply was firm. “Sir, I’m 11 years older than my sister and practically raised her myself while our mom worked to support our family. I’ve known Jamie and Sophie since just after Sophie was born and used to babysit them along with Emma all the time. Taking care of them is old hat for me. It wouldn’t be any different than it was before I left for school. As for money, I was made executive of Ms. Bennett’s estate and she left quite a bit of money for Jamie and Sophie’s care.  In addition, Emma and I inherited a pretty decent life insurance policy from our mother.  I’m also a best-selling children's writer with three books under my belt, so I have my own income that I can contribute.”

His blue eyes had then glanced first to his lawyer, who had given him a small smile and nod of approval, before he met the judge’s thoughtful gray eyes. “Your honor, I’m all the family these kids have left. They’ve already lost their mothers, please don’t let them lose their brother too.”

The judge, who had been moved by Jack’s words, granted him full custody with the stipulation that he would consent to monthly visits from Child Services to make sure the children were being properly taken care of. If he was able to pass inspection for the first six months, the visits would be lessened to twice a year for three years. After hearing the verdict Jack was then promptly tackled by the trio of children, who had hugged him tightly while laughing happily. Once the children had settled down, the judge had then warned Jack that, if at any time the Child Services officer thought the children were being neglected or abused, they would be taken from him and placed into foster care and he wouldn’t get a second chance. Jack nodded in understanding as he wrapped his arms around the three children who still clung to him. That was how, at the ripe old age of 24, Jack essentially became the ‘father’ of three.

It hadn’t been easy, there had been some bumps in the road, including a certain persistent Child Services officer who had wanted to get into Jack’s pants; but they had been able to pull together as a family and push through.

Jack shook his head and sighed again, he had been able to keep the first promise he’d ever made to the kids by keeping them together. He didn’t want to break the second promise he had made them, one he’d made them when they had gotten home after the court hearing. The kids had been hospitalized over the Christmas holiday and even though Jack had gone to see them, they really hadn’t been able to spend it together. That night he had promised them that they would always be together on holidays no matter what, and he wasn’t about to break his promise after only three months. True, he had made the promise not knowing that his publisher would be sending him to a meet and greet for his third book two days before Easter; but his publisher had thought it was a great idea, seeing as his next book was going to be about the Easter Bunny.

Jack rolled his eyes. Oh yes, it made great sense to promote a book Jack hadn’t even started writing yet.

So caught up in his own thoughts about the past and his need to get home as soon as possible, (hey only a couple more miles before the turn off to Burgess!) Jack didn’t notice movement from the side of the road until something jumped in front of his car. With a loud curse, Jack slammed on his brakes and swerved, but not before he hit whatever it had been with the front passenger's side of his car. His tires squealed against the pavement as the vehicle finally stopped moving, Jack as rigid as stone, his fingers gripping the wheel so hard they hurt. He sat there for a moment, stunned, his quick harsh breaths the only sound. Huh, his iPod must have come loose at some point during the accident. When this was the only thought to flash across his mind, he shook his head and slowly pried his fingers from the wheel. He looked at them curiously, noticing they resembled claws before they slowly started to relax as the flow of adrenaline started to decrease. He reached forward to turn off the car, then slowly sat back and let his eyes slide closed as he tried to slow his breathing.

He shouldn’t have been going so fast, and he should have been paying more attention to the road, not letting his mind wander. The kids didn’t need him ending up like their mothers. He was no good to them dead. As he slowly got his breathing under control, he found his mind wandering to the thing he had hit. It had seemed to be fairly large, with what Jack thought might be antlers. Deer were pretty common around Burgess, especially in the spring so it was a good chance that’s what he hit. He slowly opened his eyes and looked in his rearview mirror and saw a noticeable lump on the side of the road. Jack’s first instinct was to get out and see if the animal was alright, but he didn’t really want to see the animal’s injuries if he had done any serious damage with his car. Other thought was to leave it. It didn’t appear to be moving and was probably dead. It was a sad thing to see while driving, but a common on as well around the area.

Jack  was just leaning forward to restart his engine when he saw movement from his mirror. He looked back up just in time to see the lump twitch again. He sighed. The animal was obviously still alive, and Jack couldn’t just LEAVE it there. He put his hands against the wheel and hit his head against it in frustration. With a curse, he reached into the glove box for a flashlight, opened his door, and made his way over to the other side of the road where the lump lay, about 10 feet away from his car. As he got closer, he saw that whatever he’d hit didn’t have antlers.

“That only meant it wasn’t a buck, could still be a doe...” he slowly moved around to what he assumed was the front of the lump and shined his light on the animal. He had to blink a couple times before he could believe what his eyes were seeing, and even then, he still wasn’t sure what he was looking at.

As he moved the beam of the flashlight over the animal he kept thinking to himself that it all looked familiar, like he had seen something like it before, only, maybe not as big. The entire animal was covered in short greyish fur, though it’s stomach was mostly white. Long muscular back legs ended in large padded feet, each wrapped with what looked to be leather cord, led up to a trim muscular body with slightly shorter, but no less muscular front legs, which ended in hand like paws. Wait...were those leather bracers wrapped around what would be considered the things wrists? Weiiiiird, and both sets of legs seemed to have a pattern on them in fur slightly darker than the rest of the animals coat. He moved the beam to where he thought the animals head would be and it was then that he saw the ears. The ears made it all click. The ears made it all that more hard to believe. It was a rabbit. A 6 foot long rabbit, and Jack had hit it with his car.....

“Well fuck...”


	2. Unexpected Passenger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feeling guilty for having hit the 'huge mutant rabbit', Jack decides the only thing to do is to somehow get the animal into his car, and back to his house. Easier said then done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank each and everyone of those of you who commented, gave kudos, or just read my story. I honestly didn't expect much of a turn out, but I was so pleasantly surprised. If you did leave a comment, I promise to reply, not because I have to, or you might expect me to, but because I appreciate your comments that much. Because I've gotten so much support from everyone, I'm going to try to write at LEAST one chapter a week, maybe more if I can swing it. As I mentioned in the edited note from the last chapter, my sister Kat has offered to beta my chapters, but as she's a busy kitty, she'll only be able to do one chapter on the weekends, so my question to you all, the readers, from this point on would you prefer me to post the raw chapters and then update and edit them with the beta'd chapters when they're done, or would you prefer me wait until I get the edited copy back from her before I post? Either one works for me really.
> 
> I know the last two chapters have mostly been focused around Jack, but the next chapter is going to have some Bunny POV, a bit more Jack POV and dun dun dun!!!!!! The kids finally show up! So thank you thank you thank you so much for reading and subscribing and commenting and all that. It really does make a difference!

Jack stood and stared at the giant rabbit illuminated by his flashlight, not really sure what to do next. As far as he knew, the worse thing he’d ever hit with his car had been a neighbors mailbox when he’d first been learning to drive, and really it hadn’t been his fault. He’d caught sight of the neighbors’ very attractive son, and things had just sort of happened. Jack ran his fingers through snow colored hair and sighed loudly.

He supposed he was handling the entire situation fairly well considering he was currently looking at a rabbit that was nearly the size of a horse. Most people probably would have freaked out and run for the hills, or cage the poor thing and sell it to the highest bidder. Then again, Jack was a 25 year old man who wrote children’s books and still believed in things like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and Jack couldn’t help but smile, the Easter Bunny. So taking all that into account, Jack wasn’t really surprised that he was doing pretty damn good.

“Fuck.....Easter.” Jack groaned and bit at his lower lip in thought. He watched the rise and fall of the animals chest, only now noticing what looked to be a belt running diagonally across it’s chest.

The marking had been weird he’d admit, though he couldn’t really make out what they were in the little light the flashlight provided, but all the leather....clothing? He shook his head and brought his thoughts back to the matter at hand. What was he going to do? He could leave it here, and hope that the rabbit was just stunned and would eventually wake up and scamper (could something that big even scamper?) away. Or he could load it up into his car, take it home, make sure it really was okay and hope that it didn’t kill him and the kids and eat them.

Jack rolled his eyes at his train of thought. “Not the time to let your imagination run wild Jack. You need to make a decision so you can get home...” he moved around the rabbit and headed back to his car, and started the engine. Slowly, as not to run over the poor creature on top of having hit him, he backed the car up till the back passenger door was as close to the rabbit as possible then stopped the car, pulled his emergency brake.

He made his way around the car and opened the back door, pushing his duffle bag onto the floor along with a few copies of his newest book. He then turned to the rabbit and took a deep breath before bending down and trying his best to work his hands up under what would be considered armpits on a human and lifted.

“Holy shit dude! You weigh a ton.” Jack grunted as he shuffled his feet towards the open car door, the rabbits legs dragging against the pavement.

Jack cursed as he all but fell into the car along with the animal as he tried to shift his body out of the way so that he could drape the rabbits upper body across the seat. Grumbling, he shimmied himself out from under the furred body and after making sure the thing wasn’t going to fall back onto the ground, went around the car and opened the other back door. Climbing across the seats, Jack again hooked his arms under the rabbits armpits and pulled back, successfully pulling most of the animals body into the car. Jack slipped out of the car and straightened with a loud sigh, panting a bit as he ran his fingers through pale locks. He stared down at the rabbits face and and watched the fur around it’s nose and mouth rustle as it breathed. At least it was staying unconscious while Jack was moving it. He didn’t want to think about what kind of damage a rabbit this size could do to him if it thought he was trying to hurt it. From what he had seen of the things legs, it probably had a kick that would rival a kangaroos, and bigger, sharper teeth to boot.

After making sure to gently tuck the things ears between it’s head and the back seat, he closed the door, making sure to do so slowly so he didn’t accidently slam the door into it’s head. With that end taken care of, Jack moved back around the car to lift the rest of the rabbit’s body into the car. It was then that Jack noticed that at least one of it’s legs looked wrong, hanging at an angle Jack was pretty sure wasn’t normal even for a 6 foot long mutant rodent. Taking extra care to be gentle in case something was broken, Jack lifted the furred legs and folded them the best he could so that the entire creature was curled up in the back of his car. Once the door was shut he took a deep breath and turned to look at the road where the rabbit had been laying and let out a breath when he didn’t see any dark spots that might have been blood, though there wasn’t much light to see by. He looked down at his hands and clothes and didn’t see anything blood there either, so at the very least the thing wasn’t bleeding…..externally. 

Jack huffed loudly at that train of thought and stomped around the front of his car, climbed into the drivers seat, closed his door and buckled his seatbelt. He took a deep breath as he put his hands on steering wheel and glanced at what he could see of the shadowy lump in his backseat. He was crazy. That’s all there was to it. How else could he explain the fact that he had a man sized rabbit laying across the back seat of his car. He had no idea what this thing really was. If it was dangerous, if it had some sort of disease, or hell, even rabies!

“In for a penny in for a pound I guess…” he muttered as he put the car in gear and started down the road towards the Burgess exit. As he drove, he kept steal glances into his rearview mirror until he scolded himself that not paying attention to the road was what had gotten him in this mess in the first place.

He took one last look then turned his eyes to focus on the road in front of him, taking a deep breath to calm his still rather jumbled nerves. His brow furled and he took another deep breath through his nose. His car was suddenly filled with a rich earthy scent, like grass after a spring rain, and a hint of…..chocolate? He figured the earthy smell was probably coming from the rabbit, but he wasn’t really sure where the undertone of chocolate was coming from. He didn’t remember having any in his bag, but his manager or someone at the event could have slipped some into the goodie bag. Jack shook it off, though the smell kept tickling his nose, and took the designated ramp that would take him home.

Jack pulled into the driveway of his modest single family home about an hour later. He couldn’t help the smile the pulled at his lips as he put the car in park and turned off the engine. They had left the lights on for him. It might not have seemed like much to some people, but for Jack it not only meant that he was home, but that he had someone to come home to. The house wasn’t much to look at in the dark, but it was a nice solid house, boasting three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a decent sized kitchen, dining room and a family room. It also had a fairly large yard, which was both a blessing and a pain in the ass. With three very active children, it was nice to have a fenced in area where they could play outside safely, but at the same time, it was a bitch to maintain. The kids often heard Jack whining and complaining about his poor delicate skin burning in the hot cruel sun, all the while smiling as he lovingly tended the garden that his mother had planted and maintained until her death. He mainly grew vegetables, but there were a few flowering plants that his mother and Emma had planted that he and his sister refused to let die, though Emma and Jamie mainly took care of those. Jack could grow tomatoes, cucumbers, even watermelons with no problem, put him in front of a flower and all it would take is him looking at it for it to die.

His pleasant mood shriveled and died as he remembered what was laying stretched across his back seat, and that he had to somehow get into the house without waking anyone up. Not for the first time was he glad that his bedroom on the main floor, while the kids were upstairs. It actually made it easier for him to work, not having to worry about keeping the kids up with the pacing he often did when writing. He didn’t think he would have to worry too much about Marcie, babysitter , as she was probably camping out on the oversized, comfy as hell, couch that filled the living room at the front of the house. Because he had known about the trip enough in advance, he had been able to ‘hire’ a court approved long term babysitter to watch the kids while he had been on hip trip. Which had been the only reason he had been able to go. He knew the courts were serious about their stipulations and he wasn’t going to take any chances with his guardianship of the kids.

Since his room was towards the back of the house, and near the rear entrance, he planned on sneaking in that way, and groaned softly as he remembered how hard it had been to drag the rabbit’s body a couple feet. He really didn’t want to think about how hard it would be to get the rabbit into the house and into his room. Jack sighs loudly and slips out of the car,moving to the back driver side door and opens it slowly. It doesn’t seemed like the rabbit has moved at all since Jack dragged him into the car and Jack isn’t sure if he’s happy about that or not. A quick glance at the things chest shows that it’s still breathing and that relieves some of Jacks worry. As he stares down at the rabbit he tries to work out a game plan in his head. If he opened all the doors before moving the animal into the house, it would probably cause less noise and Jack would be less likely to hurt himself, which was always a plus in Jack’s mind. that decided, he jogged around the side of the house and unlocked the back door, propping it open with a nearby shoe, before moving inside the house.

He passed his room and made his way to the front of the house to check on the babysitter. Sure enough, she was sprawled across his huge blue couch in a bright pink cami with matching shorts, the blanket down around her feet, half of it on the floor. Jack couldn’t help but smile as he slowly crept over to the couch and pulled the blanket back over her. As he made his way back  towards the rear door, he opened the french style doors that separated his room from the rest of the house. At least he would have plenty of room to drag the rabbit into his room. As an afterthought, he moved into his room and towards his closet, from which he pulled his heavy, winter down comforter and placed it on the floor between his bed and the wall. arranging it into a nest of sorts. His bed was between the ‘nest’ and the door, so if anyone stuck their heads in the room in the morning they wouldn’t see anything out of order. That done, he snuck out the rear entrance towards his car and the open rear passenger door. He gripped the rabbit under the arms and pulled until most of the animal was out of the car. With a bit of skill and a lot of luck, Jack was able to manipulate the large animal until it’s arms and head were over his shoulder. He then hooked his arms under it’s thighs and lifted, his legs and back screaming in protest as the additional weight was added. He winced as the motion caused the possibility injured leg to bang against the frame of the car.

“Sorry….” he muttered, even though he knew the thing couldn’t hear him, let alone understand him. Slowly, at an almost agonizing pace, Jack made his way back towards the rear entrance of the house. He nearly tripped as he mounted the few steps onto the back porch. “Goddamn it, freaking….” Once he was sure he could take the next step without sending himself of the rabbit pitching forward onto the wooden deck, he continued forward and into the house.

He tried to keep his harsh breathing as quiet as possible as he slowly made his way across the dining room careful not to trip on the chairs as he moved into his bedroom. He had just made it to the edge of the makeshift nest, when his legs started to give out and he caught the edge of his bed, kept himself from faceplanting into the floor, his knee hitting the floor hard enough that Jack had to bite down on his tongue to keep from crying out. The rabbit wasn’t so lucky, and ended up sliding off Jack's shoulder and onto the carpeted bedroom floor with a loud thud, making Jack cringe. Though the floors were carpeted, the thud had been pretty loud, and Jack held his breath as he strained his ears to listen for any movement from upstairs of the couch. After what seemed like forever, Jack was convinced no one had woken up and he allowed himself to breath again.

He stayed on his knees for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath before he used the end of the bed to push himself up though his legs shook, and threatened to buckle on him again. Once he was high enough, he turned and sat on the end of his bed and looked at the animal sprawled across his floor. Running pale fingers through snowy strands to the back of his neck and rubbing the tense muscles there, Jack studied the animal for what seemed the hundredth time. Jack knew from all the handling of the rabbit he’d done that the grey fur that covered most of it’s body was a on the coarser side, though his fingers had felt a softer undercoat under the top layer of fur. The white fur on the creatures belly was much softer, and had an almost silky texture to it. Jack had heard of angora rabbits, whose fur was spin into yarn, and he wondered if that is what their fur felt like before it was spun.

Once Jack thought he could stand and walk, he made he was out of his room and closed the back door, locking it. He then moved to the front of the house and checked the lock there as well before making his way back to his room and closing the doors. He shuffled towards the bed, frowning as his eyes fell on the possibility injured leg. It was coxed at a strange angle and Jack was fairly certain it was broken. Making his way to the bathroom attached to his room he rummaged around until he found a couple large ace bandaged. You could never have enough first aid supplies when you had three kids in the house. Jack chuckled softly. Alright, four, if he counted himself, and he probably should given how he got hurt nearly as much as the kids, especially when he was playing with the kids. The little buggers could be sometimes.

After making a detour to the closet and grabbing a couple wooden hangers, he knelt by the rabbit’s foot and pulled it straight, winching when he heard bone grate against bone. He knew he wasn’t really qualified to be doing this, but he couldn’t exactly call the local vet to tend to the mutant rabbit so he would do what he could. Once he was as sure as he could be that the bone was in place, he broke the largest part of the hangers off and place one on each side of the leg and started wrapping the ace bandages around the makeshift brace. He had some first aid training, the courts had insisted on it when he took the kids home, he just hoped it was enough to keep the animal from hurting itself when, and if, it woke.

Once the leg was wrapped firmly, Jack stood and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There was that smell again, but Jack was just too tired to really think about it. Making sure the rabbit was hidden from the view of the door, he stripped down to boxers and all but fell into bed. He barely made it under the top blanket before he was fast asleep, the smell of spring rain, damp earth and chocolate lulling him into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there is chapter two. Please let me know what you think, all polite criticism is welcome!


	3. Time to wake up!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets attacked in bed by a very happy Sophie, and Aster wakes up confused with a lot of questions and no answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been working on this chapter all week and all I have to say is....I'm not really happy with it. It just seems a bit awkward, but that might have to do with switching perspectives in the middle of the chapter, but I wanted to give Aster some 'screen' time. I actually kind of had a hard time writing Aster. Doesn't help that I'm crap with accents and foreign slang. I found a pretty long list of slang but I'm honestly just shit at it. I promise to work on it for next chapter when he actually starts talking. If anyone knows of a translator or something like that please let me know! Just FYI again, Kat hasn't had a chance to beta this chapter but I wanted to post it, since I said I'd post at least once a week.

“Jack!!!!” the high pitched squeal had him jerking awake only moments before his door burst open and his lap was filled with the blond haired form of his six year old ward Sophie. He choked out a laugh as she wrapped her arms around his neck And her legs around his waist.

“Hey there kiddo! Hows my Sophie-bug?” he returned her embrace and looked up when he heard chuckles coming from his doorway. Jamie and Emma stood side by side, smiles plastered on both their faces.

Jack’s own smile faltered a bit. just the intensity of their smiles and Sophies barnacle like behavior told him that they had thought he wouldn't make it home. He shifted on the bed till he was seated on the edge and patted the mattress beside him, urging the older children to join him and Sophie. They both rushed, though not as excitedly as the 6 year old, but hugged him just as enthusiastically. he smiled fondly as he wrapped his arms around the two and pulled them close. He’d completely forgotten about his guest until Sophie, who was practically draped over his shoulder started laughing and clapping her hands.

“Bunny!!! Hop hop hop.”

Jack’s eyes grew wide and he shot off the bed, dragging the children to the door and practically shoving them out into the hall. “Hey!! Why don’t you let me get dressed and we can go find those eggs!” though he wasn't a bulky person, he hoped he was blocking the bed from view. At the mention of eggs Sophie squealed  again and started jumping up and down

“Lets go let’s go! Come on come on come on!”

Jack shook his head and laughed at her antics. “Alright alright, just let me get dressed first. “he turned his attention to the older kids. “Have you three eaten?”

Sophe was busy dragging Emma towards the back door so Jamie answered. “Yeah, Maria made sure we ate before she left. She figured you got in pretty late so she said she’d be back sometime this week to pick up her money.”

Jack nodded and winched as a yawn caused his jaw to pop. ‘Alright. At least that is taken care of. Why don’t you go save Emma from your sister, and help keep her entertained while I get dressed and then we'll go outside.”

Jamie nodded, his smile bright with excitement. Jack returned the smile before ducking back into his room. With his back against the door, Jack took a deep breath and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. When he looked across the room at his bed, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary that would have gotten Sophie so worked up. Slowly, as not to scare the rabbit if it was awake, Jack made his way across the room till he could see the still sleeping creature. Jack tilted his head in confusion, and ‘huh’d’ to himself before he shrugged and made his way to his closet to get ready. Maybe Sophie was just really excited to find eggs. Though most of the time she acted like any other 6 year old, ever since her mother had died, she would randomly regress to a much younger age, though it only lasted for a short time. Jack shook his head as she slipped a blue sweater  over his head. If the behavior kept up, he would see about taking her to a doctor. Checking once more on the rabbit as he passed the bed, Jack made his way out of his bedroom and joined the children outside.

***

The last thing Aster remembered before he was wrenched from sleep by a cry that would have made a banshee proud, was bounding through the forest, bright lights, the screech of tires and pain. The pain had lasted only a couple of minutes before his consciousness fled, but it came roaring back as the cry, which was strangely familiar, jerked him awake. He bit back a yelp, not wanting to draw the things attention, and tried to relax and give himself a moment to become more coherent. As he lay there he realized he wasn't outside anymore, as he would have expected, or if he was Seraphina had redecorated the sky to look awful lot like a ceiling. This led him to his to his second realization; that he was laying on a thick  blanket of some sort, down if his nose wasn't mistaken, which is never was. And thirdly, there were people in the room talking. Slowly, Aster stretched out an ear till it was fully extended, and blinked in surprise when he heard laughter. The laughter of three, maybe four children. He cringed when one of the children cried out and he knew this had been the source of the cry that had woken him. If her words were any indication he had been spotted, and he pulled his ear back down quickly. It seemed her outburst caused a flurry of movement from the other side of the, Aster looked closer at the thing obstructing his view, bed?

Though he dare not extend his ear again, if he lay still and slowed his breathing, he could still make out most of what was being said. Something about eggs, and outside. This made Aster freeze. Bloody hell, today was Easter! He went to sit up but bit his lower lip to keep from crying out as his entire body screamed in pain. He fell back against the plush covers, panted softly. Before he could take a better look at himself, he heard movement over by what he could only assume was the rooms door, so he quickly relaxed and closed his eyes, feigning sleep. As the person drew near, their scent, the same scent that he only now noticed surrounded him, got stronger. It reminded Aster of a pine forest after the first dusting of snow, crisp and clean, with a hint of earth. There was also a hint of spearmint and the unmistakable musky scent of human male. Strangely, the unknown males scent calmed his frayed nerves and caused something in his lower belly to tighten at the same time.

He heard the male stop near his feet, then it was silent, their breathing the only sound filling the room. Then the human was walking away from him and he cracked open one eye then the other, hoping to get a better look at his kidnapper? Savior? What he saw was the svelte form of a very pale boy with white hair rifling through a closet of clothings with fingers so long and slim they would have made any professional piano player jealous. Aster decided to ignore the wave of disappointment that washed over him as pale flesh was covered by jeans and a light blue sweater. When the human moved to turn, he closed his eyes again till he heard the door open and close. Once he was sure the human was gone, Aster slowly sat up, every muscle pulling and screaming in protest. Something around the middle region of his torso shifted painfully and he growled softly, pressing gently against the spot. A shot of pain caused him to bit his lip hard enough it bled. It was either a very bruised rib or a cracked one. Thankfully it didn't seem to be broken. As he started to make a mental inventory of his injuries, which mostly seemed to be superficial and not that severe, he realized he couldn't move his right leg. Green eyes traveled down to the offending limb and he cursed softly. His fucking leg was broken.

Once his initial shock and anger had subsided, Aster took a closer look at his injured leg. Whoever had brought him to this place obviously had some minor medical skill or had taken an advanced first aid class.The braces that had used weren't the best, but the ace bandages had been wrapped with some amount of skill. With his healing abilities, the cracked rib would heal in a few days, not really enough time for the others to start worrying about not seeing him. The leg on the other hand, would take at the very least two months to heal if not more. Granted, to a human, that was nearly a third of the time needed to heal a broken leg, but for Aster, who was used to being up and about and on his feet most the day, two months was going to be torture. He'd be able to hobble around with help or crutches, but there was no way he would be able to make it to the Warren on his own. He needed to get  a message to the other Guardians. at least he didn't have to worry too much about his holiday. If need be, his goggies could hide themselves, though some hid either too well or not well enough when left to their own devices, but he liked to have a hand in the hiding from time to time. This year had been one of those times and if he hadn't been looking for….A high pitch cry of joy from outside had his ears lifting high above his head and turned towards the nearest window.

After much adjusting, scooting and no small amount of pain, Aster was able to peek outside. What he saw had his brow puckered in confusion. One child, a young blonde girl, held up one of his goggies, a green egg accented with purples, blues and pinks with small white geometric shapes, up to a boy who looked much too old to be hunting for his eggs. He nearly chalked it up to an older brother indulging a younger sibling until another girl, this one a brunette with brown eyes also ran up to the boy, showing off her own find, a red egg with orange and yellow accents. This ones design was aboriginal in design, sporting lots of white dots and lines in detailed and intricate patterns. The new girl and the boy had to be similar ages, if not the same age, which Aster placed at around 13 or 15. He’d NEVER seen children that old actively looking for eggs. usually they were being made to do it with younger siblings, which meant they only found eggs their own parents hid, or no eggs at all.

His curiosity peaked, Aster turned inwardly to his core, hoping to find out who these children were. The boy looked familiar and the way the younger girl bounced around reminded him of his current favorite human child. In a way very similar to how Nich knew which children were naughty and nice, Aster could identify any of his believers if he concentrated hard enough. Since a child's behavior did not affect whether or not he left them eggs, Aster rarely tapped into his gift. But if these children were looking for and finding his eggs, they obviously believed in him and if they believed, he'd be able to find out who they were. As he turned the majority of his attention inwardly, he stayed at the window, his eyes still watching the little ankle-biters, till something white caught his eye and drew the rest of his attention to the humans outside. Bugger, he'd almost had it. He knew the name of the older girl, Emma Overland, and had just been zeroing in on the younger girl when the boy with white hair danced into his field of vision. He was definitely older than the rest of the children, though Aster could still see his back, maybe 16 or 17. He was dancing around, a basket hooked over his arm and, wait, what was that clutched in his hand? Was, was it one of his eggs?! It was! Aster was completely floored. Here was some teen, who was nearly an adult with one of his goggies cradled lovingly in his hand. he watched as the white haired youth bent down and held the egg out for the other to see. It wasn't just any egg, it was one of Asters special eggs, dyed in a rainbow of colors with springs flowers etched in white all around the shell.

  
These eggs were the hardest to find and only showed themselves to children who were not only extremely faithful believers but also needed a good hope of hope in their lives. They were usually found by children from abusive or neglectful families as well as homeless children. Aster was still asking himself how a teen had gotten hold of one of his special goggies and why, when the boy gave a loud whoop and lifted the small girl into the air and started spinning her around, the air filling with the sounds of exuberant laughter. Completely overwhelmed and in shock, Aster laid back slowly against the blankets. The white haired boy who he assumed brought him home and bound his leg was not a boy at all, but an adult, granted he looked like he might still be in his early to mid 20s, but he was an adult that could see and touch him, and believed in Aster enough to have been gifted with a special egg. And the little blond hair girl, there was a good reason she reminded him of his favorite child, because she WAS his favorite child. But why were Sophie Bennett and,  who he now recognized as her brother, Jamie here with this man and how could he see him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. A little shorter than the last two, and I'm sorry that this chapter didn't seem to flow as well the others, but I'm hoping the next one will. Thank you so much for sticking with me thought the mistakes and the problems and thank you SO MUCH to everyone how commented, gave kudos and took the time to read. It really makes writing the next chapter that much more fun knowing that there are people out there waiting to read it. Thanks again!


	4. Update to previous Authors note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Update of a kind

So to start off, I'm not going to apologize for my long absence and lack of chapters. As most of you are probably writers as well, you are more then aware of the ups and downs of life and how they effect writing. That said, I have been working on a new chapter or two, but I don't want to post them until I get at least another chapter done. I really appreciate those who have stuck it out with me and those who haven't because they read my story in the first place and can't really be blamed for giving up on me because frankly for a time I gave up on me. I'm hoping to have at the very LEAST three chapters up by Yule, or Christmas if that is your persuasion, maybe even ON Christmas as a gift to everyone who still wants to read my story. Speaking of the story, my last note said that I was planning on doing some rewriting to the beginning, but I've decided that I like the beginning just the way it is so other then probably some grammatical things, the beginning won't be changing. I'm still looking for a Beta, both to help keep me motivated and to help fix my grammar, which I know is atrocious. If you're interested, please shoot me a PM or an email. Again, thanks for sticking with me and I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving (if you do in fact celebrate it) and know that I'm thankful for each and every one of you ~Rayvyn

P.S. Also, I got a message from a lovely reader of mine asking for permission to post a fic of hers where part of it was inspired by what little of this story I've posted. I was very flattered to hear this and gave her my consent (though it wasn't really needed) and lots of encouragement and well wishes with her story. You should check it out. It's [Hope comes in Oval](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2632250) by Whatever777.


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